


Moving On

by dobe_san



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eventual Romance, Jealousy, M/M, Mutual Pining, POV Uchiha Sasuke, POV Uzumaki Naruto, Post-War, some mourning for the ones who left
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-04-08 04:04:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19099375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dobe_san/pseuds/dobe_san
Summary: After a harrowing experience with a venom, Sasuke rediscovers his feelings and (persuaded by Sakura) decides to open up to Naruto about Itachi.





	1. Chapter 1

Naruto sprinted towards the gates of Konoha as fast as he could. He had been submitting his mission report in the Hokage tower when a hawk landed on Kakashi’s window. One look at the familiar animal summon and Naruto dashed out of the room onto the neighbouring rooftop.

Sasuke was finally returning to the village after his mission. For eight long months, he had been away collecting intel on a cell of rogue ninjas operating near Amegakure. The man had convinced the sixth Hokage that there was nobody better than him to do missions involving the place where Akatsuki was first founded. He had been a former member after all.

But Naruto knew better. As he sped towards the gates to welcome his friend, he spared a quick glance at his bandaged fingers. He was well aware that Sasuke’s last two missions also involved being alone and away from the village for months on end, though never quite as long as this. He suspected that the real reason Sasuke kept volunteering for such missions was likely the same reason why he continued to refuse a new left arm.

(Something along the lines of repentance, Naruto thinks.)

Naruto knew that he wouldn’t be able to join Sasuke to Amegakure the moment he had learnt about the mission. Infiltration required a ninja with enough finesse to be discrete, and he was anything but. Nonetheless, Naruto still volunteered, in hopes that the sixth Hokage would take his history with Sasuke into account and change his mind.

Obviously, Kakashi had said no.

They were all older now, fresh young jonins living their third year of peace since the great ninja war ended. The initial months after had been truly difficult to say the least. Restoring the village aside, it took a great deal of patience (and begging on Naruto’s part) to assimilate the previously rogue nin back into Konoha. It wasn’t negotiating Sasuke’s sentence to merely hours of community service, so much as attempting to change the people’s perception of someone who had been labelled a traitor over the years.

Sasuke was really not too bothered by the reluctant welcome. Naruto, though, made it a point to seek permission before sharing with everyone what Danzou had put the last Uchiha through.

“ _Do whatever you want_.” Sasuke had told him back then without so much as a thought.

Naruto suspected Sasuke only let him do so because he had managed to get (beg) Tsunade to allow Sasuke to return to his old home, as per his request. Some buildings were totally destroyed in the war, but part of the Uchiha compound was still standing. In return for Tsunade’s generosity, Naruto had to become Kakashi’s personal aid while his sensei transitioned into the role of sixth Hokage. That honestly involved more babysitting than work, but the look that Sasuke gave him when he shared the good news made it all worthwhile.

The thought of seeing Sasuke again after all these months made Naruto’s chest constrict with longing.

One would think that he would have gotten used it by now, considering that the years he spent chasing after Sasuke were significantly longer than their time spent together. But in the first year that Sasuke returned, when he was still not allowed to leave Konoha, Naruto grew accustomed to not waking up from nightmares, wondering if his friend had died in yet another revenge battle; he could just drop by the Uchiha compound any time he wanted, and Sasuke would be up and about doing his daily chores as if he never left.

Though more recently, with Sasuke being more absent than present again, it took long hours of brooding and several “you boys are so stupid” comments from Sakura for Naruto to finally understand just what the awkward mix of uncertainty, frustration and  _desire_  actually meant.

In his distracted haste, Naruto kicked a roof tile loose. He cursed when he nearly tripped over, but quickly regained his composure to continue on. The barriers protecting the village steadily approached in sight.

Naruto continued to ponder about Sasuke, thoughts floating back to their last conversation before the latter left for his long running mission.

_“Well, I guess I’m not invited. As usual.” Naruto pouted like a petulant child. “One of these days you ought to let me come along. I think I have shown myself to be pretty useful by now, unlike the dumb kid you thought I was back then.”_

_“You’re still dumb.” Sasuke replied with his usual straight face. Then a pause, as if reconsidering his words after seeing Naruto’s scowl. “Tell me, which_ genius _would let himself get stabbed by a poison-laced shuriken, just to get a sacred scroll back?”_

_Naruto gave a loud protest and shoved Sasuke carelessly. He had honestly thought the other was going to say something nice._

_“That was an accident! I got the scroll back and that’s all that matters!” Naruto recalled that wreck of a mission, quickly realising that the timeline didn’t quite fit. “I didn’t know you heard about that. You were still on the way back from Kumogakure when it happened.”_

_“Hn, Sakura told me she had to strap you to the bed because you were hallucinating from the poison.”_

_“Shut up! Damn Sakura-Chan, always embarrassing me.”_

_Silence took over eventually as they broke eye contact; Sasuke adjusted the bag on his shoulder, while Naruto scratched behind his ear. It remained this way for a while, with Sasuke’s hawk circling endlessly above them — it was ready to leave. Naruto understood with much reluctance that it was time for his friend to go._

_“Sasuke, I-“_

_“I’ll be back.”_

_Naruto forgot what it was he wanted to say. Sasuke’s face was impassive as usual, save for the barely noticeable frown. Naruto supposed that only someone who stared at Sasuke as much as he did would be able to recognise that this was how the man looked when he tried to suppress an emotion he did not quite agree with. Naruto gave a quiet laugh and shook his head._

_“Yeah, you better come back. I might not survive chasing after you a second time.”_

_Sasuke’s gaze was intense._

_“You won’t have to.”_

_Now a little more relieved, Naruto couldn’t help but smile. Sasuke adjusted the katana in his belt for the last time and turned around._

_“I’ll be back.” He said again over his shoulder for good measure, before he went on his way._

_Naruto stayed to watch his friend retreat into the distance. His heart was doing that weird skipping thing again. As he remembered Sasuke’s conflicted expression and the conviction in his promise, Naruto suddenly wondered if he was the only one who felt disappointed about parting._

 

Slowing down, Naruto found himself in front of the gates of Konoha. He wiped away a drop of sweat that trickled down his temple; the afternoon heat was merciless. He forced himself to stop fidgeting when the giant doors creaked open way too slowly. As soon as the gap was wide enough, Naruto directed a burst of chakra to his feet and sped through, braking just in time to stop in front of the returning ninja.

Despite spending so much of his time envisioning their reunion, nothing came close to the overwhelming relief at Sasuke being within his reach again. There was an inexplicable urge to reach out just to make sure that the guy was  _really_  there, partly out of fear that Sasuke would disappear like he often did in Naruto’s midnight dreams, and partly because the Sasuke in front of him looked quite different from the Sasuke that had left eight months ago:

Half of Sasuke’s face was now hidden under his raven hair, and he wore a new vest over a purple dress shirt. With a dark velvety coat draped over his body, one could not tell that the man was missing his left arm. His katana sat sheathed in his belt as usual, and the only other thing that remained constant was the black field pack hitched over his right shoulder. Naruto briefly noted how his own standard jonin attire paled in stark comparison to what must be Sasuke’s sixth or seventh outfit change, not that he was counting or anything.

A sudden gust of wind tickled Naruto’s nose with the familiar — Sasuke’s — scent of lavender and sandalwood, and also quickly revealed the left-sided rinnegan before it disappeared back under his long fringe. Naruto’s chakra seal whirled in response, as if preparing for battle. He inhaled deeply to calm Kurama down. To be fair, nobody had pleasant memories dealing with the eyes of the sage. Maybe that’s why Sasuke now chose to have half his face covered. Either way, his hair had grown long enough to do just that, the spiky tails at the back seemingly also tamer than before.

Naruto could see Sasuke assessing him likewise, visible eye scanning down his body and then back up to meet his gaze. Just as Naruto readied his breath to say something about Sasuke’s new look, the man spoke.

“You cut your hair.”

The comment took Naruto slightly by surprise. He ran his fingers through his short blond locks, having only just realised that Sasuke was seeing them for the first time.

“Yeah,” Naruto cleared his throat, “it’s been a while. I had it cut just after you left and kept it that way. Feels good though, lighter and all.”

When Naruto first raised the idea, Sakura did ask him to reconsider. Something about looking like a naked mole rat. Initially he regretted not heeding her advice, and spent hours in front of the mirror willing the hair to grow back. Nonetheless, it only took him a quick mission or two to Suna to fully appreciate the caressing breeze on his sweaty scalp.

As Sasuke raised a neat eyebrow, Naruto suddenly wondered if the change was again one of the poorly made decisions in his life, among others such as getting injured by poisonous weapons, and having untamed feelings for one’s best friend.

“What, is it  _that_  bad?” he asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

Sasuke continued staring at his head, this time for a second too long. He then shrugged and continued walking through the gates which were now wide open. Naruto resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“Teme, Gaara said it looks good.” He did a little jog after Sasuke until he was able to keep their steps in line. “Your hair is different too so you’re in no position to judge.”

“I’m not judging you,  _dobe_.”

Naruto fought the grin that made his lips curl, feeling somewhat special to be at the receiving end of the familiar nickname. He decided not to let the taunt get to him this time. If anything, he could tell by the inflection in Sasuke’s voice that the man was actually amused.

As they walked side by side on the footpath towards the village centre, he noticed that Sasuke was also wearing a black fingerless glove, something like the one their sensei usually wore. He briefly wondered if it came in a pair, and what Sasuke did with the other side that he did not need.

“How was the mission?” Naruto asked after a while. Sasuke’s pace was comfortable, almost leisurely, so he knew without a doubt that the mission went well.

“It was fine. The terror cell was overly eager to take over the village, so they made mistakes.”

Sasuke stopped in front of the first building in sight. They were already at the edge of a residential complex. Sasuke squinted at the sun, then glanced at Naruto to announce his next move. On a silent three, they jumped onto the roof with practiced ease, Naruto landing a fraction of a second earlier. The rest of their journey above ground was made in comfortable silence.

 

Once arriving at the Hokage tower, they made their way down winding stairs from the rooftop. Naruto fought to adjust his eyes to the warmer indoor lighting.

Next to the stairs was the pantry, where Naruto sensed some surprise at the presence of his companion. He grinned at the two people inside and made jazz hands towards Sasuke. Genma laughed out loud while Iruka gave Naruto a knowing smile. The two younger ninjas continued down the curved corridor to see Shikamaru walking towards them in the opposite direction. Naruto asked if he was being lazy again, which the Hokage advisor ignored. Shikamaru instead raised his hand to acknowledge Sasuke, who returned the greeting with a brief nod.

They eventually arrived at the door with two Anbu guards. Before Naruto could knock, he heard Kakashi’s tired voice telling them to enter.

Inside, nothing was very different from the time of Tsunade’s run, if the piles and piles of paperwork flooding the room were any indication. Kakashi sat behind his desk, leaning back comfortably into his chair. The Hokage hat was placed next to him on a particularly tall stack of green paper, and Pakkun was sleeping near his water bowl on the floor. Naruto took Kakashi’s lack of reaction at his additional presence as silent but somewhat fond understanding. He then did what he always did when he was in his sensei’s office: he reached for the Hokage hat and placed it on his own head 

“Kaka-sensei, don’t you think that Sasuke’s hair is way too long?”

Their teacher raised an eyebrow.

“I think he looks fine, Naruto.”

Sasuke smirked.

“But-“

“Do you still have the other one?” Kakashi cut him off to address Sasuke, indicating to where the other’s left arm would have been. “I burnt a hole in mine while cooking.”

Naruto was confused. He heard Sasuke drop his bag onto the ground and watched curiously as the latter went through its contents with one hand. Having found what he was looking for, Sasuke tossed something small and black toward their sensei. Naruto quickly realised that it was his other glove, brand new and unused.

Kakashi caught the gift easily, and smiled behind his mask.

“Thanks, Sasuke. Now for your report.”

 

——————————

 

Sakura had her mothering stance out, hands on her hips in well practiced annoyance.

“Sasuke-kun! Come back here this instant!” She yelled at the figure walking out of the door.

Naruto would usually remind Sasuke that he should know better than to upset Sakura, but he wasn’t really paying attention. His abs hurt too much from laughing.

They were in a small examination room, located in the hospital wing where ninjas go for medical check ups pre and post mission. Having heard that Sasuke was back, Sakura had requested to do the remainder of her afternoon rotation there.

“Don’t make me come and grab you. You  _will_  regret it.”

With a thread of self-preservation, Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance and turned around.

Sakura, satisfied with his response, now returned her glare to Naruto who was sniggering away. “And you, get out and let me finish examining him.”

“Fine, fine,” Naruto wiped away a tear and sucked in a breath to control himself. “I’m sure there’s nothing else wrong with him though.” He stood up from the visitor chair just as Sasuke slammed his belongings back down on the floor. The latter returned to sit, albeit very reluctantly, on the hospital bed.

Naruto sniggered again. Sakura had briefly examined Sasuke for wounds moments earlier and found a long scar on his right shoulder blade that did not used to be there. Recognising the unique welt, Sakura had asked if it had come from a kunai or shuriken.

_“Only the red spider venom would cause such scarring. Geez, I thought only Naruto would be this careless. Doesn’t the rinnegan help you to teleport or something?” She chastised, pressing her manicured finger into the protruding skin. “Even with an antidote, you must have been out for days with a poison that strong.”_

_The revelation that Sasuke wasn’t actually immune to poisonous weapons had Naruto bursting out in mocking glee. And the man had the nerve to taunt him the last time!_

_“Teme, who’s the_ genius _now?”_

_Obviously Sasuke had remembered their last conversation. because he did not look amused at all. He pushed Sakura’s hands away and began buttoning his shirt, covering the expanse of milky white skin that was uncharacteristic of a seasoned ninja. With a deep flush creeping up his neck, he shot Naruto a death glare._

_“Shut up, usuratonkachi.”_

_Naruto ignored him and continued laughing, much to Sasuke’s chagrin. Deciding that enough was enough, Sasuke threw a pillow at his face. He then grabbed his field pack and katana, and was just about to leave when Sakura threatened bodily harm unless he let her finish._

Sakura tucked a loose fringe behind her ear out of habit.

“Get out, Naruto. I’ll see you later for ramen.” She said, now glancing over at her other sulking team mate. “You’re coming too right, Sasuke?”

Naruto looked expectantly at Sasuke, who nodded curtly in response. It had somehow become a team tradition ever since Sasuke was allowed to leave the village for missions. Whenever one of them returned, they would meet at Ichiraku for dinner. When Kakashi wasn’t too busy, he would join too.

Sasuke was still refusing to look at Naruto, embarrassment now evident in the flush of his cheeks even though his lips were upturned in a scowl.  _Cute_ , Naruto mused, before shaking the thought away.

“Okay, see you at eight.” Sakura pulled the curtains and returned her full attention to her patient.

With a satisfied smile, Naruto left the room.

 

——————————————-

 

Dinner was a simple affair. After ordering the signature cha shu ramen, the three members of team seven began catching up.

Sakura was saying something about Karin being an asset to the hospital. Apparently they found a way to extract her chakra to store as reserves. That might prove to be useful if there was another war in the future, though Naruto insisted that that would never happen under his watch.

“I still can’t believe how many marks she has on her arms.” Sakura said as she stirred the remaining ramen broth in her bowl. She looked over to the guys on her left. “The teeth must have cut really deep for scars to form.”

“I don’t know, ask Sasuke. A few of those marks probably came from him.” Naruto elbowed said friend as he slurped a mouthful of noodles. He was already finishing his third bowl.

Sasuke ignored the jab to his side in favour of setting his chopsticks down. Naruto, with his mouth stuffed, noticed that Sasuke was now spooning some soup with the same hand. The man was only halfway through his meal, constantly having to switch between the two cutlery. Naruto made a conscious effort to chew slower.

“Anyway, when she and Sasuke-kun helped out at the old folks’ home, she was already giving some chakra to the elderly there. They really liked her, right Sasuke-kun?”

Sasuke hummed in response, quietly sipping the rich pork bone broth.

The old folks’ home was one of the locations Sasuke and Karin had to go for community service as part of their rehabilitation. They did various things for the village in their first year, including scrubbing the walls of the home, pruning the forest just outside of the walls, building an orphanage for the victims of war, and so on. Suigetsu decided not to stay, opting to return to his village. Juugo, after much deliberation, chose to go with him.

During that time, Naruto had been so bogged down by all the extra Hokage chores from Tsunade and Kakashi, that he had wound up not being able to help Sasuke out with his community obligations. Naruto sometimes wondered if their non-overlapping schedules were by design, so that both him and Sasuke could heal independently after the war. He got to see Sasuke at work only once, when he attended the orphange’s opening ceremony with his sensei.

_By the time Naruto arrived back outside after settling Kakashi indoors with the other important guests, the evening sun was already low behind the cliffs, dusk palette painting the sky with hues of red and orange._

_Next to the large playground teeming with children, Sasuke was resting in the shade. With him were two brothers, not older than four or five, who were having a field day circling around him. Sasuke looked calm, shoulders not up to his neck in his usual tensed posture. In fact, he wore a gentle smile on his face, soft gaze revealing a kind of fondness that Naruto had never seen before._

_“Those two love him.” Naruto heard Karin before he felt her sit down next to him on the bench. “It’s always ‘Sasuke-niichan this, Sasuke-niichan that’. How I wish Sasuke would also look at me like that.” She huffed, but there was no real annoyance in her voice._

_Suddenly, the younger boy tripped over his own two feet and fell face down into the ground. Sasuke looked slightly panicked at the sudden turn of events. Still, with the reflexes of a ninja, he pulled the younger child up and inspected the bleeding knee. He did not notice the older brother run inside the main building, only to emerge two seconds later with a wet cloth. The brother said something to Sasuke, who then brought the bleeding child to sit in his lap. Quietly, he patted the boy’s head in an attempt to soothe him._

_The older child used the cloth to dab the wound, pausing every now and then to check on his crying brother. Once the area was clean, Sasuke raised his index finger. Pale green chakra emitted out of it as he began closing the wound. Small cuts were easy to heal, even non-medics could do it. Both brothers widened their eyes at the ninjutsu, looking at their favourite niichan with nothing but awe._

_Later, when the younger boy ran off to play with another child — bruised knee obviously not hurting anymore — the older one remained seated next to Sasuke. They seemed to be talking about what Sasuke did earlier, because Sasuke showed the green chakra finger again. The boy held his palms together as though begging for something, but Sasuke shook his head, whispering something else in return and poked the boy’s forehead with two fingers. The young child pouted, but eventually threw himself at Sasuke for a bear hug before running back indoors._

_“Do you think the boy reminds him of his brother?” Karin wondered, seemingly unaware that she had thought out loud._

_Now free of distractions, Sasuke quickly realised that he was being watched. He turned around to survey the area, and it wasn’t long till his eyes met Naruto’s._

_Holding his gaze, the blond replied wistfully._

_“Funny, I was just thinking the exact same thing.”_

 

“-ruto. Naruto!” Sakura’s arm swung at him like a bat.

“Ow! Sakura-chan, why are you such a brute?!” Naruto rotated his shoulder to ease the pain.

“You were daydreaming. Sasuke has already paid and we’re leaving.”

Naruto looked up just in time to see Sasuke walk out of Ichiraku. He gave big boss Teuchi and Ayame a quick salute, before joining Sakura out of the restaurant. As they meandered through the crowd she suddenly tilted her head towards Sasuke, who already had a few meters of head start.

“I think you should walk Sasuke-kun home.”

“Huh? Why?” Naruto asked, even though the extra time to catch up did sound rather tempting. “He doesn’t really like it when I do.”

Pretty emerald eyes simply rolled up in their sockets.

“Just  _do_  it, Naruto. I know you want to.” She gave Naruto a knowing look, which was the same one she gave him when they went drinking and he suddenly blurted about his confused feelings for Sasuke.

When it happened, Sakura wasn’t even surprised. She just laughed, saying something about her having known all along. She then pushed his head onto her shoulder, and started recounting the pains of unrequited love. She also did, however, hint that she wasn’t quite sure if it was all one-sided in Naruto’s case, highlighting Sasuke’s unique choice of nicknames, and the fact that their friend had, in the end, returned to Konoha after all this time, just as Naruto wanted him to.

“Don’t be stubborn. Just walk him home later, okay? He looks a little tired from the travel, so I don’t think he’ll kick up a fuss.”

Naruto wondered if Sakura was up to something, but he didn’t think it wise to ask, especially if she was purposely being evasive about it. He would just end up with another bruised body part.

Once they reached the main junction, Sakura explained that she was heading in the opposite direction to run some errands for her mother. She waved goodbye to Sasuke, and gave Naruto an insistent look before she left.

Well, it was truly way too early for bed anyway, so Naruto decided to listen to Sakura and offer to send Sasuke home. He was prepared for Sasuke to say no, but true enough, Sasuke’s protest today was half hearted. Naruto guessed that either he wasn’t really paying much attention, or maybe, like Sakura had said, he was just too exhausted to bother. 

The two ninjas began making their way towards the Uchiha compound.

It was a cloudless night. Naruto stared up at the half moon, incomplete but still bright. His companion for the evening was quiet as usual. From the corner of his eye, Naruto noted that Sasuke appeared distracted by something on his mind. Deciding to give him some space, Naruto returned his own thoughts to the two boys from the orphanage.

It was three or four streets later when someone finally said something.

“What are you thinking about?”

Naruto turned to look at his friend, mildly surprised that he was the one who broke the silence. Sasuke seemed a little more settled now, as though having come to consensus with whatever that was bothering him earlier.

“Oh, I was just thinking if I should start volunteering at the orphanage,” Naruto replied. “I’ve been super busy with missions and extra work at the Hokage tower, but that’s really no excuse. Plus now that we’re jonins, we can even teach some of the older kids basic chakra molding and stuff.”

Sasuke didn’t say anything, but Naruto knew he was listening.

“I also thought about the two boys who practically worshipped you when you were helping out,” he continued, “You know, the younger one hurt his knee. Then his brother went all sparkly eyed when you fixed him up and asked you how you did it.”

Sasuke let out a soft chuckle at the memory.

“Yeah, I remember. What about them?”

Naruto kicked a random stone out of the way and heard it hit the lamp post with a dull thud.

“Nothing much. I was just wondering what you said to him when you poked his forehead.”

This time Sasuke hesitated. He looked away from Naruto in favour of staring up at the night sky.

“It’s nothing important.”

Even though that made him even more curious, Naruto let Sasuke keep the memory to himself for now.

Deciding that a change in topic was in order, Naruto asked the next thing on his mind - if Sasuke was going to stay in Konoha a while longer this time before taking on another mission. If he did, maybe Naruto would ask him to go back to the orphanage together. What the blond had expected was an indifferent shrug or a vague answer. What he did  _not_  expect was the teasing lilt in Sasuke’s voice.

“Why, did you really miss me that much?”

Naruto considered playing off this unanticipated response with loud indignation as he usually did, as though taking offence that Sasuke would suggest something so incredulous. That might be the reaction that Sasuke was expecting, based on experience from their usual banter.

But maybe the deep-seated yearning had simply grown too overwhelming over the last few months, because Naruto suddenly felt tired. Tired of Sasuke leaving for months and months on end, tired of pretending that he didn’t actually enjoy the attention that Sasuke afforded him on rare occasions like these.

“What are you talking about?  _Of course_  I missed you.” Naruto admitted with slight exasperation. “I thought about you a lot when you weren’t here.”

Apparently, Sasuke hadn’t seen that coming, because there was an initial surprise on his face before it quickly dissolved into something a little more neutral. Naruto swallowed his disappointment, watching his friend take sudden interest at the ground as they continued walking. He was hoping that Sasuke would at least try to brush it off, or even throw something at him again like he did at the hospital. That would be better than the heavy silence that now filled the space between them.

They went around one last corner to stop in front of the Uchiha courtyard. The air was fresh and crisp from the row of sandalwood trees along the main pathway inside the garden.

Now that they were facing each other properly, Naruto took another good look at Sasuke. Over the years, he learnt why Sakura and Ino spent most of their childhood swooning over the young Uchiha. Even in the dark, with half a face covered in fringe, it was hard not to find Sasuke attractive: his eyelashes were long enough to cast dancing shadows every time he blinked, his jawline incredibly sharp and defined, and his lips... well, Sasuke’s lips were blood red like his sharingan. Naruto gulped and wondered if they were as soft as they looked.

Realising that Sasuke was suddenly staring back with an intensity that made his hair stand, Naruto was tempted to brush aside the curtain of fringe just to make sure that the rinnegan wasn’t actually reading his mind.

“I visited Jiraiya’s memorial stone today.”

He wasn’t sure if he heard Sasuke right.

“Wait, what?”

“It’s the one with ‘sensei’ inscribed on it, right? With three kunais linked together by wire.”

Baffled, Naruto simply nodded. Till this day, he still needed time to compose himself whenever he talked about Jiraiya.

The first time he told Sasuke about his late sensei was a few weeks after the other returned from his second long mission in Kumogakure. It was on a particularly bad night during the month of Jiraiya’s death anniversary when Sasuke found Naruto alone in one of Konoha’s quieter bars. Instead of leaving, he took the seat next to Naruto, and ordered himself some saké. They sat silently in each other’s company, until Sasuke finally asked what he was doing there.

Not wanting to lie, Naruto took a leap of faith (as he always did with Sasuke) and trusted the man with his demons. He recounted his travels with Jiraiya, all the way from their first meeting, to learning the rasengan, and eventually to the Sannin’s last battle with Nagato. That same night, Naruto confessed to the immense guilt that ate at him from within, wondering if his sensei would still be here today if he had been strong enough to help back then.

_“I wish you got to meet him at least once. He would have beat your sorry ass back to Konoha.”_

The last thing Naruto remembered was the alcohol flush on Sasuke’s cheeks, and his own promise to bring Sasuke along to visit the memorial next year, before everything went dark. The next morning, Naruto woke up in his bed with a pounding headache. The only signs that Sasuke had ever been there were the pills and a cup of water on his bedside table.

“I hope it was okay,” Sasuke continued with an uncertainty that was foreign to Naruto’s ears. His handsome face was now marred by a crease between his brows, and Naruto very much wanted to smooth it out with his finger.

Honestly, Naruto was pleasantly surprised, and very,  _very_  touched, that Sasuke still remembered the details of that drunken night. Plus the memorial stone was hidden way off the main road, which meant that Sasuke would have needed to make a detour to get there. The realisation that he went out of his way to do so made Naruto breathless with inexplicable want. He yearned to pull Sasuke in for a hug, to let Sasuke feel the whirlwind of emotions burgeoning in his chest. But Naruto remembered Sasuke’s silence earlier, and instead chose to shove his hands back into his pockets, not ready to risk rejection a second time tonight.

“Don’t be stupid. Of course it’s okay,” he smiled, hoping that his gratitude would reach Sasuke through words instead. “I actually brought Sakura this year because you were still away. The offer still stands, though. We should definitely go together next time.”

The sandalwood leaves rustled gently in the evening breeze, bringing forth the familiar scent that settled Naruto’s nerves. Sasuke didn’t say anything for a considerably long moment, and Naruto took that as his cue to leave.

“Well, thanks for letting me know. It really means a lot.” He scratched a nonexistent itch behind his neck, willing himself not to stay any longer lest he did something stupid. “You must be tired. Have a good rest, I’ll see you maybe next week.”

With a quick wave, the blond ninja turned around to leave. He barely took a few steps before Sasuke called out to him.

“Naruto. Wait.”

He heard the other take in a long, steadying breath before continuing.

“Are you free next weekend? I’m going to the old Uchiha hideout.”

Stopping in his tracks, Naruto let the announcement sink in. There was only one reason why Sasuke would go there, and Naruto suddenly realised what the other was distracted about earlier.

When the time came each year, the night of the full moon, Sasuke always paid respects to Itachi alone. He would leave by himself for a few days without telling anyone but the Hokage, and Naruto would always let him, knowing that he was shown the same courtesy when it came to Jiraiya. So why was Sasuke revealing his plans now, and asking Naruto about his own?

_Unless_...

Naruto spun around so quickly it made him dizzy. In the spur of the moment, he closed the distance with one big stride and grabbed Sasuke’s shoulders.

“Wait, are you asking me to come  _with_  you?” Naruto held his breath, afraid that anymore sudden movements might make Sasuke retract his offer.

After what seemed like an eternity, Sasuke finally squashed all his doubts with a simple nod.

“I’m planning to leave on Friday morning.”

Naruto couldn’t believe it.

“Friday morning! Yes! Okay, that’s in exactly a week!” He exclaimed, sounding very much like a child who had been given the promise of candy. But the excitement was short lived, abruptly taken over by panic, “Shit, wait, my mission next week is supposed to last till Sunday!”

“It’s fine if you can’t-“

“No, I  _want_  to!” Naruto insisted. “Don’t worry, I’ll just ask Kaka-sensei to bring the mission forward or something. If I leave tomorrow or Sunday, I think it should be fine. I just got to pack up tonight and clean my weapons and let the others know,” He rambled on, mind racing too fast to keep up. And if that didn’t work, he could just come back earlier by himself. He was sure that the team could manage a day or two without him. “Is Sakura coming?” His words came out faster than his brain could process them, only realising on hindsight as Sasuke stared intently at him.

Naruto sucked in a deep breath, calming the heart that raced against his rib cage. The nerves about Sakura joining seemed uncalled for in this situation and the thought confused himself slightly.

After what felt like the longest seconds of his life, Sasuke finally shook his head.

“She said you and I should go together, just the two of us.”

Maybe Naruto had waited too long for Sasuke to return, or maybe it had finally sunk into his dense brain that Sasuke was actually letting him, and him  _alone_ , in to a significant part of his world, because Naruto couldn’t hold back any more. He closed the gap and pulled Sasuke into his arms, feeling a soft gasp in his ear as he placed his chin over the man’s shoulder. With their bodies pressed up together in a tight embrace, Naruto took in the hard planes of muscle, and the refreshing hint of lavender at the ends of his friend’s raven hair. Sasuke always smelled nice, he smiled stupidly, even in the bloody throes of battle.

Noticing that Sasuke was not pushing him away, Naruto decided to milk the moment for all it was worth. He held on, relishing in the body heat that gave rise to a sense of comfort and belonging deep within his belly. He was sure that Sasuke could feel his chest pounding, but in that moment, it didn’t matter. It felt like he finally quenched a thirst that had been there for months, one that no amount of water could have helped.

With a slow rustle of fabric, Naruto felt a hand come up to rest, very tentatively, on the small of his back. Relief spread throughout his entire body, as he returned the hesitant gesture with a tight, knowing squeeze.

_Just the two of them, huh_ , he thought.

_This Sakura._

“I’ll be there. Nine o’clock at the gates,” Naruto promised. “Don’t leave without me.”

He felt more than heard Sasuke’s low hum. It was a welcomed sensation that vibrated through their chests.

“Then you better not be late,  _dobe_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wrote this last year... Only recently after re-reading Komorebi by saltedpotato then I realised how much I was influenced by her post-war headcanon. One of my absolute favourite fics of recent times, thank you for being an inspiration. This is my small contribution to the fandom, and I hope fandom fics never stop coming (even though everyone agrees Naruto ended before Chapter 700).
> 
> 1\. Imagine a younger Sasuke with his dad hair now from the Boruto series. I know not everyone likes their new character design but I think Naruto and Sasuke look great as hot dads. 
> 
> 2\. When I wrote this I completely forgot that ninjas could do sealing jutsu to pack their stuff. But Sasuke with a cool black backpack, any day, right?
> 
> Any feedback and/or comments are welcome. Though, be kind. My heart is as fragile as Sasuke's.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta-ed, but I hope you enjoy it. 
> 
> And this is in Sasuke's POV.

Sasuke dried his toothbrush with a paper towel before dumping it with his other toiletries. He grabbed the small pouch off the counter as he left the bathroom, zipping the contents up with his teeth. Packing had become less of a chore now that he had gotten used to doing things with one hand.

It was already Friday morning. The week had passed by in the blink of an eye. Ever since his last conversation with Naruto outside his compound, the two of them had not spoken since, as Naruto had left almost immediately for his mission the next morning.

Sasuke headed down the dark hallway within his compound. The creaky floorboard protested under the shuffling of his feet, straw tatami leaving soft indents on his soles as he entered his room.

The scroll that sat on his desk had been there for days, unrolled and untouched. On it was an incomplete note addressed to Naruto, written when Sasuke had become uncertain of his initial decision to invite the other to the old Uchiha hideout. He could still remember the exact moment he had put the brush down, abandoning the thought to leave Naruto behind and leave for the hideout by himself.

_“I thought about you a lot when you weren’t here._ ”

The vivid memory of Naruto holding him so earnestly made him feel guilty for even considering rescinding his offer to bring the guy to visit Itachi’s grave.

Sasuke knelt down to shove his toiletry pouch into a larger bag that also sat on the floor. He went through the list of items once more in his head, pausing momentarily to feel around for something his field pack. Pleased that the two boxes of wagashi sweets (Itachi’s favourite) were still there, he pulled the canvas flap over the top and fastened the buckle in place with a satisfying click.

It had been almost three years since his return to Konoha, this time permanently brotherless and also one arm less. The phantom pain had been excruciating at first, but he refused any help. He did not want to be indebted to the village that he had initially wanted to destroy - the same village that Itachi had died for, the same village that Sasuke now vowed to protect if not for himself but for his brother and Naruto. It was just an arm, he told himself, he could live with that. He was an Uchiha after all. 

His first year back had been filled with mandatory community work, which was a surprisingly light sentence for a missing nin. He supposed that he could thank Naruto for yelling his stupid blond head off at Tsunade, defending Sasuke and all that he had done. In the end, the last Uchiha even got to rebuild part of his clan’s compound, despite the Fifth hokage’s initial refusal.

The thought of histeam mates,especially the  _usuratonkachi_ , going out of their way to recreate a space for him in their lives, gave rise to a familiar sense of conflict within him. It was the same conflict that had surfaced the moment he saw a supposedly dead Itachi running through the woods, cruelly resurrected as a pawn of war.

There was probably some relief, gratitude even, in that hodgepodge of confusing emotions, but the one that sat heavily in his guts was  _guilt_.

At the time of their battle with Kabuto, Sasuke only had a few hours with Itachi to make amends, forgiveness a running theme from both ends during their final conversation. Still, it really had not been that difficult to share his unspoken regrets, because Itachi was first and foremost — and would always be — his precious brother.

But with his two friends, and of course their sensei, Sasuke felt that maybe it was a good thing that he had now been afforded more time in the remainder of his life. Not so much to repent for his misguided anger, but because he needed more time to figure out exactly _how_  he could possibly rebuild the bonds that had been destroyed in the earlier years.

The young ninja glanced over at the old clock ticking on the wall. It was the silhouette of an eagle, its lone red eye being the mark of both midday and night; it had been one of his father’s prized collection left surprisingly intact after the war. There were still two hours left before he had to leave for the gates to meet Naruto, so Sasuke stood up and went to the porch. He pushed the sliding shoji doors a little wider, relishing in the cool morning breeze and the fresh fragrances from his courtyard.

With a soft sigh, he sat down on the engawa, legs dangling off the side with his toes barely touching the gravel. The sky was just beginning to light up, birds chirping quietly in the distance. Taking in a deep breath of sandalwood, Sasuke closed his eyes and rested his head on the wooden column.

The chilly morning air continued to caress the parts of his skin that were not hidden under his coat, leaving tiny goosebumps in its wake. It brought forth a memory of his mother nagging at him to get back into the house, out of concern that he would catch a cold. Somehow, the recollection of her hands cupping his tiny frozen cheeks reminded him of the conversation he had with Sakura during his medical check post-mission, just after a teasing Naruto had left the room.

_Sasuke suppressed yet another shiver when cold fingers returned to touch his scar._

_“I wasn’t kidding about being knocked out for days,” Sakura chastised. “How did you get hurt? And where did you even get an antidote?”_

_“A healer found me,” He replied, deliberately skipping the part about triggering a wire trap and getting hit square in the shoulder by the stray kunai. He blamed his carelessness on the lack of sleep, having been awake for more than thirty hours at the time._

_Sakura hummed as she sat back down in her chair. She chose not to press him for ignoring her first question._

_“And how long were you out?”_

_“Maybe three or four days.” He honestly couldn’t remember. “It doesn’t matter, I’m fine now.”_

_His team mate let out a disapproving sigh, one that was usually reserved for Naruto when the latter did something stupid. Sasuke could understand why she was concerned, though._

_The moment he was poisoned, his mind was immediately assaulted by haunting images of black and red. Something started attacking him, sometimes yanking his eyeballs out of their sockets, sometimes running a stake through his left stump. Sasuke remembered screaming his throat raw, begging for the torture to stop, but there would be nothing but pain and silence. It was like being caught in a genjutsu, he thought ironically, except this time it wasn’t something he could simply blink out of._

_Then, almost way too abruptly, the hallucinations took a completely different turn. It was as though his brain had tried to protect itself from the horrors, because it started conjuring the most unexpected of dreams - he saw a familiar whiskered face and a tuff of soft golden hair. There were lips on his neck just below his ear, and strong arms wound tightly around him that made him feel safe, hopeful. Then, just as he was getting used to the comforting embrace, darkness came._

_“So, who did you dream of?”_

_Sasuke knew the question was coming the moment Sakura had identified the poison. He chose not to reply and instead began redressing himself._

_“Let me guess. It was Naruto, wasn’t it?”_

_His fingers stilled for a moment over the last button of his dress shirt, before reaching for his vest to pull it on._

_After the healer had found him, Sasuke had stayed in bed for days, completely and utterly exhausted. The kind man had explained that this particular spider venom always forced its victim to seek out their deepest desires before killing them slowly. It was possibly the worst way to die, because the last face you see, would belong to the person you could never_ ever _have again._

_Sasuke knew he was lucky to have been rescued in time, but the harrowing experience also forced him to confront the feelings that he had tried to bury deep within himself._

_“Well, are you going to tell him?” Sakura asked, insistent on the topic._

_Sasuke remained silent. If he was completely honest with himself, it really hadn’t been that difficult to realise that Itachi aside, the person he wanted the most in this lifetime was probably indeed Naruto._

_Ever since Sasuke came back to the village for good, the walls he had put up against Naruto slowly but surely came crashing down._

_Naruto was exactly the way he used to be - terribly annoying, but sincere, as he had always been. He did everything he could to help Sasuke adapt back to village life, doing stupid things like cleaning the Uchiha compound, pulling Sasuke to Ichiraku’s, spending almost any free time he had outside of work to visit... At first, it had just been something as simple as the return of the childish banter that had once been exchanged when they were younger. But by the time Sasuke realised how much more he had been smiling in the idiot’s comforting presence, it was already too late._

_Funny thing was, whatever comfort he felt when he was with Naruto had likely been there all along, but it wasn’t long after... everything that happened that he finally had the emotional capacity to dissect and digest._

_And that left Sasuke in quite a mess. Because his blond team mate had never shown any inclination toward wanting anything more than an unwavering bond of friendship. Plus, Sasuke wondered if this was just his subconscious simply desperate to fill the void left by Itachi._

_Afraid that he would upset the hard fought balance between him and Naruto, Sasuke decided to leave Konoha the second he could, hoping that time away from its source would eventually mute these feelings._

_Which, of course, was useless, if the failure at escaping from this very bond during his angsty teenage years hadn’t already hinted at the futility of his attempt._

_Sasuke would be lying if he said Naruto’s sullen face didn’t cause him to leave with twice the reluctance every time they parted at the gates, and he knew he wouldn’t be kidding anyone if he said he didn’t look forward to returning to Konoha, just so that his icy cold self could thaw a little more in the blond’s presence._

_Even though it annoyed him thoroughly, Sasuke sometimes allowed himself to entertain the thought of giving in completely, wondering what it would be like to accept the feelings he had for his closest friend. For the same reason, he found himself at Jiraiya’s memorial earlier that day, wanting to better understand the life Naruto had led when he wasn’t around, to be a little bit closer to the person who had given up so much to save Sasuke from himself._

_Another loud sigh broke the dark haired male out of his reverie, before he felt the edge of the mattress dip gently beside him. Sakura sat down with one leg on the bed, knee bent such that her body now faced him._

_“You know, when you were still away, Naruto actually invited me to visit Jiraiya’s memorial. I was shocked because he had never asked anyone to go with him before.”_

_Sasuke’s head snapped up. Did Sakura somehow find out about his earlier detour to the exact same place. When he asked to make sure, Sakura’s pretty face morphed into one of surprise._

_“And_ why _exactly did you go to the memorial?” She leaned forward, as if challenging Sasuke to lie._

_“It was just on the way,” He shrugged his shoulders, not trying too hard to fake it. On hindsight, now that the pink haired kunoichi wasn’t infatuated with him anymore, Sasuke knew he didn’t stand a chance._

_“Don’t lie. You know full well it wasn’t on the way at all,” Sakura replied, crossing her arms. Sasuke thought she looked a little irritated now, so he avoided eye contact while she continued. “Naruto said he had been waiting all year to bring you there, so I kind of figured out that it was you who got him to open up about Jiraiya. But you went to take on another long ass mission, and that made him pretty upset.”_

_Sasuke knew Sakura’s silence was a cue for him to respond, but when he didn’t, she sighed again, reaching down to grab his field pack off the ground._

_“I’m sure you already know by now that the red spider venom only reveals the person you want the most. So I really don’t have to explain your true feelings towards Naruto.” She placed his bag on her lap, mindlessly toying with one of the straps as she considered her next words._

_“I don’t know if you’re always leaving because you feeling guilty for everything that has happened, or maybe you just feel like you don’t deserve to be next to him, in this village that is also your home. But whatever it is, it’s probably the last thing you have to worry your pretty head about.” Sakura turned toward Sasuke, making sure that his eyes met hers. “Naruto trusted you enough to let you in about Jiraiya. And even now, he would give up the world for you in a heartbeat if that was what you wanted. I just hope that this time, you would stay a little longer, because with the way he sulked the last few months, I don’t know how much more he can take.”_

_Sakura helped the heavy field pack up his good arm, and Sasuke let her, mind still reeling from all that she had said. The idea of a brooding Naruto didn’t sit well with Sasuke, especially when he knew he had, more often than not, been the reason for it for the longest time coming. It never really bothered him in the past (another lie), but it sure did now._

_Amidst the shuffling, Sakura suddenly spoke again._

_“It’s Itachi’s anniversary next week, right?”_

_Sasuke wasn’t at all surprised that Sakura had kept track of the times he left the village to visit his brother’s grave, so he nodded, this time reaching for his katana himself._

_Sakura smiled at him with soft eyes, dusting his shoulders before giving them a gentle squeeze._

_“Maybe you should bring Naruto with you. Don’t make him wait any longer.”_

By the time Sasuke awoke from the memory and then some, an hour had already passed. In the peaceful lull of dawn, he had fallen asleep on the porch. His spine ached against the hard wooden floor.

Suddenly sensing a familiar presence next to him, he resisted the urge to laugh. He wondered if he should be concerned that his subconscious had not alerted him, as though sensing no threat from the familiar kyuubi chakra.

“I thought we were supposed to meet at the gates,” Sasuke said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He heard sandals kicking against the gravel, the noisy crunch resounding in his otherwise silent courtyard.

“Yeah, but I was early, so I decided to come and see if we could go together.”

Sasuke raised his heavy eyelids and tilted his head back. Naruto was now staring at his exposed rinnegan, and the attention made Sasuke want to shut both eyes again.

“You should’ve woken me up,” He drawled, pushing himself up into a seated position. He let his hair fall back into place, before turning to face Naruto properly.

“It’s okay, your garden smells nice,” Naruto replied with a smile that oddly didn’t reach his eyes. He was balancing his bottom on the edge of the wooden porch, legs outstretched onto the gravel, his palms resting on the floor behind him in a relaxed posture that belied his somewhat vacant expression.

Sasuke frowned. Did something happen on the mission?  _Couldn’t be_ , he thought. Naruto’s chakra felt fine, and he didn’t have obvious injuries. Sasuke took in Naruto’s new outfit — not the jounun uniform, but a new jacket in an obnoxious shade of orange (of course) with three black stripes around the hem and at the end of his sleeves, and long black pants — paired with the shorter hair that allowed Naruto’s boyish charms to shine through even more so without the usual headband on his forehead.

“Did you wait long?” Sasuke asked while staring at Naruto’s fingers tapping on the wooden floor. He couldn’t shake off the vibe that something was off, so the question was as close to an apology he was willing to give, seeing that it was Naruto who arrived early after all. In the end, Naruto just shook his head.

“Nah, it’s fine. You looked like you needed the rest, so I really didn’t mind waiting.”

_“Don’t make him wait any longer.”_

Sasuke closed his eyes briefly to avoid the glaring sun emerging from behind a stray cloud. It was getting a little too bright at this time of the morning, a clear sign for them to leave. He took a deep breath, massaged the crick in his neck and headed indoors quietly.

Grabbing his field pack off the tatami, Sasuke spared a quick glance at the half written scroll on his desk, and walked back out to slip his sandals on.

“Come on,” he said, sliding the shoji doors shut when he was ready. “Let’s go.”

—————————————————

 

The two ninjas filled most of their journey with silence, with Naruto occasionally recounting his recent mission and Sasuke giving half-hearted nods of acknowledgment. They were headed towards a small town located down south of Konoha, where they would stopover for the night before travelling to the Uchiha hideout the next day. By the time they saw their destination in the near distance, it was already half past one.

“I’m still surprised you let me tag along. Are you sure it’s okay?” Naruto suddenly asked, sounding a little hesitant again.

Sasuke recalled the shock on Naruto’s face when he had extended the invite a week ago. At least the expression that Naruto now wore was one filled with less doubt, although his furrowed brows told Sasuke he was still taking in the surreal situation.

“We’re already halfway there. Don’t be ridiculous." 

That seemed to have reassured him a little.

“Still thanks, I guess. I really appreciate it.”

Naruto looked like he was going to say something else, but held himself back in the last minute. He looked away, clearing the air with an awkward cough.

“Um, you know, we haven’t travelled out of the village together since Team Seven days. And even then, I don’t think it’s ever been just the two of us.”

Sasuke knew he was right.

Truth be told, the realisation that he was going spend the next few days together with Naruto, alone, mourning the loss of someone who had once played an integral part in Sasuke’s entire existence, was daunting to say the least. And with that brought back the lingering anxiety that had been festering the entire week and their journey thus far.

What bothered Sasuke was not at all the physical act of bringing Naruto to the old hideout. It was not as if there were any other remaining Uchihas left to protest letting an outsider in anyway.

What troubled him was the fact that till this day, Sasuke had never really spoken to Naruto, or anyone really, about Itachi. His secrecy about his older brother was kind of like a last ditch effort to monopolise all that was Itachi to himself.

Then, there was also all that unnecessary attention he had paid to Naruto even (especially) after all these years: his fluffy hair, the way he scowled at scathing insults, his stupidly infectious laugh... Sasuke wasn’t sure what Sakura thought would happen on this visit. Maybe he would do something that would make Naruto finally want to end this stubborn...bond between them, just the way Sasuke wanted years ago during that fight at the valley.

Amidst his rumination, Sasuke suddenly got himself a face full of blond locks.

“Are you okay? You’ve been really quiet.”

Sasuke jerked away instinctively and squinted at Naruto.

“I’m fine,” He lied.

Naruto didn’t look very convinced, but he dropped the subject.

“Okay, whatever you say.”

Sasuke sighed. He looked up at the canopy of leaves shielding them from the afternoon sun. Maybe Naruto was right to doubt his invitation. Maybe Sasuke really should have finished the half written note and left earlier by himself. He clenched his jaw and frowned. Indecision was not a commonly seen trait in his typically assured self, and all this unfamiliar jitter was making him a little more wound up than he would have liked to be.

A loud grumble came from Naruto’s stomach, and Sasuke decided that his worries would have to wait. Plus, he thought to himself, if he really  _had_ finished the letter to Naruto, the idiot’s hopeful face would probably fall into one of utter disappointment, which would make Sasuke feel equally, if not more, uneasy. For now, he was glad that he didn’t decide to leave Naruto behind.

He eyed the rows of eateries as they entered the small town.

“Whatever is fine for lunch. You can decide,” He announced. “Okay, maybe just not ramen.”

Naruto pouted, but eventually directed them to a yakiniku shop on the left. Sasuke trailed behind the blond who began humming a made up tune about grilled meat.

Signalling a table for two, Naruto charmed his way into getting them a seat on the large balcony overlooking a river. As they sat down, the blond thanked the waitress with a generous smile. He did not notice the flushed cheeks on the young lady as she excused herself. Sasuke wondered if this sort of thing happened often back in the village nowadays, especially with Naruto being known all over as a hero. Sasuke didn’t need either of his special eyes to see that Naruto had indeed outgrown his awkward bumbling self rather nicely.

During lunch, a random group of ninjas came up to speak to them. Now that parts of the shinobi world were more united after the war, almost everyone had heard about their intense battle three years ago with Madara and Kaguya. Sasuke worked his jaw on a piece of grilled beef, watching quietly as the blond ninja entertained their guests. The reddening ears on Naruto, the result of yet another worshipping praise, was in contrast to the arrogance his younger shameless self would have shown. 

“It wasn’t just me you know. I couldn’t have done it without Sasuke’s help,” Naruto threw a stupid smile in his direction, and Sasuke resisted a smirk himself.

“But did you know this  _teme_  tried to beat me up again after the war? Of course I was way stronger and won in the end!”

Sasuke wondered if it was too late to recant his statement about a mature Naruto. He ignored the surprised glances thrown at him, choosing instead to ask the waitress for more tea. When the young girl returned with the teapot, the horde of ninja fans left, making space for her to refill their cups. Naruto was now making obscene sounds of pleasure as he wolfed down another piece of grilled meat, praising the restaurant’s secret marinade and making the waitress blush even harder. 

Suddenly, in a flustered state to retreat, she accidentally knocked the teacup over. Naruto skidded his chair back, shrieking in surprise at the scalding liquid that landed in his lap. The girl grabbed some unused napkins from the table in an effort to clean up, apologising frantically for the mess she made. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the slender fingers touching all over the inside of Naruto’s thigh. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay, don’t worry about it!” Naruto shook things off with a callous wave. The girl held her hand back at her sides awkwardly, looking ready to be swallowed up by the ground. She bowed and left with haste, likely going back into the kitchen to drown in embarrassment.

Naruto excused himself to the bathroom and emerged looking his usual self, save for the noticeable dark patch on his pants that was a little too close to his crotch. Sasuke scoffed.

“You’re lucky your pants are black.”

Naruto nodded in agreement, saying something about looking like he wet himself.

The rest of lunch by uneventfully except for Naruto’s constant yapping, and Sasuke could feel his own shoulders lowering a little further from his ears.

Maybe this trip wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe it would all be okay... whatever ‘okay’ meant.

When they paid for the meal, the boss came out to apologise on behalf of her teenage daughter, who was now hiding behind her mother. They offered Naruto free vouchers for future meals.

“Sorry about just now. My young daughter gets very shy in front of handsome boys like you. She really has a thing for blonds.” The old lady winked, chuckling when her daughter nudged her in the back.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, basking in the compliment that he, unlike Sasuke, seldom received. He asked the young waitress for her name, and thanked her personally for the meal. The girl’s (Ayumi’s) pretty face lit up and she smiled in return, asking Naruto to come visit again some time. Somehow that made Sasuke’s recovering mood sour again.

“Yes, I’ll come back with my friends from the village. Chouji would love the meat here. See you next time!” Naruto sounded a little too excited as they left the place.

Annoyance was often a go-to default in Sasuke’s limited range of facial expressions, but it wasn’t like he had any reason to be upset. He wasn’t even sure whether it was Ayumi’s hopeful eyes, or Naruto’s oblivious flirting, but whatever it was, it irritated him.

Sasuke pressed his lips into a line, taking in the dark clouds in the distance. His chakra was tingling as lightning charges suddenly flooded the dense air. There hadn’t been a forecast of a storm, so this unanticipated change made Sasuke even more on edge.

“Hurry up. It’s about to rain.” He muttered as he walked towards the mountains behind the town.

Naruto let out a burp before asking where they were going next. But Sasuke ignored him. The shrine uphill was the main point of stopping over in this town. The way up was mostly unsheltered, so it would be bad if it had rained. Sasuke walked faster ahead, hearing a curse and quickening of footsteps behind him. He knew Naruto had no choice but to follow.

Perhaps Sasuke’s annoyance had less to do with the petty events that unfolded at the restaurant, and more to do with the reality of getting on with their itinerary. Wondering again what Naruto really thought of Itachi, what Naruto really thought of  _him_  after all these years made the worries from earlier seep back into Sasuke’s tired bones. He wished for the discomfort in his chest to dissipate soon, just as he hoped that the impending thunderstorm would eventually come to pass without actually happening.

——————————

 

Just when Sasuke thought his mood couldn’t get any worse, it did.

Big fat raindrops pelted down on them as they ran back into the small town in the evening. Sasuke held his dark coat above his head, though it did nothing to keep him dry in the heavy downpour. Beside him, Naruto cursed out loud as he splashed into yet another muddy puddle. Unlike Sasuke, he didn’t even have a coat, so he held his bag pack over his head in a futile effort to protect himself from the merciless rain. 

Once they arrived at the sheltered entrance of the ryokan inn, the two drenched ninjas bent over with their hands on their knees, panting heavily from their sprint downhill.

“What’s with the rain!” Naruto wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “It never gets this heavy back in Konoha.” He shook his head to get rid of the water, blond locks scattering stray droplets everywhere. It reminded Sasuke of a wet dog after a bath, but he was sure that the hair plastered to the sides of his own face didn’t make him look any better.

“I told you we should’ve left earlier,” He said curtly, mirroring the other to dry his eyes. “But no, you insisted on chasing the stupid tanuki into the forest behind the shrine. What are you, five?”

“But I’ve never seen one before! It was so cute and fluffy!”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He held one end of his coat under his left arm pit and wrung the other end with his right hand, bending sideways awkwardly to avoid the excess murky water spilling onto the floor.

“Shit, I’m totally drenched,” Naruto grimaced, unzipping his jacket halfway to reveal the wire mesh shirt sticking to his body. “We really should have brought an umbrella." 

Sasuke retorted that it was unlikely that an umbrella would have helped in a storm like this.

“Yeah, but at least we could have kept our heads dry. Why didn’t you suggest to bring one along?”

Sasuke really wasn’t in the mood to defend himself. He was getting sick of the wind chilling him to his bones, and becoming more and more impatient at the coat that remained disgustingly soaked despite all the squeezing.

“Damn it I’m so cold,” Naruto’s teeth chattered as he brushed the droplets off his waterproof bag. He held it close to his body to shield himself from the gale. “I’m sure Ayumi-chan had umbrellas we could have borrowed.”

Sasuke’s face twitched at the mention of the waitress.

“Well if that’s what you want, why not just go back to the restaurant to find her right now?”

With that, he turned around to yank the inn’s sliding door open, almost pulling it off its hinge. Ignoring the wet squishing sounds from his sandals, he stormed into the inn. 

“What the hell?” Naruto shouted back as he too came stomping in after him. “What’s wrong with you? You’ve been prissy the entire day!”

Now Sasuke was getting really irritated by all the unnecessary yelling.

“Well if some  _idiot_  stopped yapping about waitresses and their umbrellas then maybe nobody would be  _prissy_  at all.”

Naruto glared at him. If he could throw kunais with his eyes, Sasuke would probably be hit by a few by now.

“You bastard! It’s not like I made it rain, why are you pissed off at  _me_?”

“Who said I’m pissed off-”

“Stop lying! If you really didn’t want me to come, then you should have just  _said_  so!”

The owner of the inn heard the ruckus and emerged from the back room, looking both surprised and intrigued by Sasuke’s disheveled appearance and the loud guest he had brought along with him.

Recovering quickly from the unexpected tirade, Sasuke adjusted the heavy coat under his stump. He ignored his simmering anger in favour of removing his wet glove with his teeth, shoving it haphazardly into a side pocket. He then retrieved one box of sweets from inside his bag.

“Sorry for the intrusion, Minari-san. This is for you.” 

Sensing the tension, the lady chuckled awkwardly, accepting the gift without hesitation. 

“It’s nice to see you too, Sasuke-kun. I was hoping you wouldn’t get caught in the rain.”

Minari-san was an old family acquaintance, a friend of his mother’s who had seen Sasuke all the way since he was in diapers. Ever since she heard about the family’s death, she had always let Sasuke stay at the inn for free.

“Do you have two rooms for the night?” He asked politely, half hoping that he would be able to get a room to himself after the sour turn of events. He chose not to look in Naruto’s direction while Minari-san checked, knowing he was being childish for going against their agreed plan on sharing a room. His stomach flipped (in disappointment? in relief?) when Minari-san shook her head gently.

“Sorry Sasuke-kun, because of the storm we suddenly became fully booked. I know you always visited around this time of the year, so I saved you your usual room, but I didn’t know you would be bringing a guest.” She smiled apologetically, glancing at Naruto who stood quietly in a corner. “I could prepare an extra futon though, if that’s okay?”

Sasuke eyed a silent Naruto who rubbed his hands up and down his arms and shifted his weight between his feet. Sasuke sighed, realising that he, too, was still shivering.

“Yeah, that’s fine. Thank you.”

 —————————————

 

By the time Minari-san had explained to Naruto where everything was (“ _Just ask Sasuke-kun if you’re not sure!_ ”) and left, the young Uchiha had already dried his feet and was making his way to his favourite corner of the room.

He stepped into the smaller rectangular extension in the L shaped room, feeling some warmth finally return to his fingers and toes. Against the right wall was a two-seated sofa, and in front of it was a tiny placemat for sitting on the ground. Opposite the entrance to the space, right of the sofa, was a full length window, where he could see the dark evening sky and the relentless storm.

The pitter patter of raindrops went on like a lullaby as Sasuke dropped his belongings onto the tatami floor, exhausted. He sat down cross legged and stared at Naruto, who also dumped his things carelessly onto the low table in the larger living area. The blond sighed loudly and collapsed with his back flat onto the ground. The two of them stayed like this for a good few minutes, taking in the entire day’s events. After a while, Naruto started pulling uncomfortably at his sticky jacket, whinging about the slow heating in the room.

“Get changed, usuratonkachi,” Sasuke said without any real bite this time. “You’re going to catch a cold.” His anger from earlier had already dissipated under Minari-san’s kind hospitality and the comfort of the warm indoors. Naruto grunted in response, sitting up lazily. If he had noticed Sasuke himself still wearing his wet clothes, he chose not to comment on it.

Sasuke leaned against the armrest of the sofa and watched Naruto wriggle comically out of his soaked jacket. When the wire mesh undershirt came off, Sasuke caught a glimpse of glistening tanned abs, before willing himself to look away.

Realising that he should get changed himself, Sasuke turned around, one hand ready to pull the vest over his head. But every time he tried, he would pull the shirt underneath with him. The wet material of the vest stayed stubbornly plastered to his dress shirt, and nothing was budging. He let out a sound of frustration, forgetting for a moment that he wasn’t alone. He was about to use his feet to help when Naruto spoke.

“Um, do you need help?”

Sasuke paused to consider the offer. He looked over his shoulder, realising that Naruto had already changed into the inn’s dark blue yukata and matching pants. He was holding out another set in his hand, waiting expectantly for Sasuke to respond. 

Suddenly tired of struggling with only one arm, Sasuke nodded and turned away, returning his focus to the Uchiha fan symbol on the placemat.

For some reason, his throat tightened when he felt Naruto kneeling behind him. Two hands came to hold the inner dress shirt down as Sasuke pulled his vest off easily this time. He mumbled his thanks, quietly unbuttoning his long sleeved shirt and shrugging the wet fabric off, feeling goosebumps rising on his skins.

Noticing that Naruto was not moving away, Sasuke suddenly felt more exposed than he physically was. He looked up and saw their reflections in the tinted window.

“What?” He asked. But Naruto wasn’t paying attention. He was staring at Sasuke’s naked back, deep in thought. Sasuke was about to question him again when he spoke.

“Did it hurt?”

Sasuke reached for the yukata that was left on the sofa. Naruto was probably talking about the scar he got.

“A bit.” He admitted after a while, smoothing out the blue fabric with his wrinkly soaked fingers. He had expected Naruto to move away as soon as he answered the question. But instead, Naruto went on to caress the sensitive skin on his shoulder, his cold finger tracing the length of the protruding scar.

Sasuke swallowed. This felt different from when Sakura examined him. It was something much more... curious, intimate, like the heated touch in his poisoned dreams.

“During our mission, I told Karin about this scar you got. Red spider venom, right?”

Sasuke wasn’t sure he liked where this was going.

“She said something about it revealing your most precious person, the person you wanted the most in this life,” Naruto mused. “Did you dream of someone like that, Sasuke?”

A shiver ran down Sasuke’s spine when a blunt nail pressed into the welt. He saw the reflection of Naruto biting his bottom lip.

“Was it Itachi?” Naruto’s usually cheerful voice was tinged with an odd resignation, a kind of disappointment that made Sasuke latch onto the need to prove him wrong.

“No, it wasn’t Itachi.”

There was a noticeable shift in Naruto’s expression at Sasuke’s firm reply.

“Then, Sakura?”

Sasuke’s fingers tightened on the yukata in his hand.

“No, not her.”

The blond glanced up this time, staring back at Sasuke through the reflection in the window. He paused for a second, thinking hard.

“Don’t tell me it was Kaka-sensei,” Naruto made a face, grimacing at the strange thought himself.

Baffled, Sasuke turned his entire body around to glare at him. Trust the idiot to ruin a moment.

“Are you for  _real_? Did Iruka drop you too much as a child?”

Naruto spluttered at the insult, a hand out and ready to shove Sasuke’s shoulder.

“Are you calling me stupi- oh shit!”

Being the klutz that he was, Naruto’s knee got caught in his yukata. He tripped forward, both arms outstretched for balance, and ended up pushing Sasuke all the way onto his back.

In well-practiced self-defence, Sasuke attempted to flip Naruto over with a left kick to his abdomen, but somehow, they did this dance so many times that the blond saw the move before it came: He quickly grabbed Sasuke’s raised knee with his bandaged hand, redistributing his body weight to trap Sasuke’s other leg under his left shin before it could attempt what the other leg couldn’t. Feeling the need to escape, Sasuke tried to punch Naruto in the side, but the latter simply caught Sasuke’s wrist and pinned it onto the floor, right next to his surprised face. 

Naruto wore a smug grin at his own fast reflexes, and Sasuke was not pleased with his vulnerable position under the other’s hands and knees.

“Get off me,” He demanded.

Naruto’s playful grin disappeared. He stared back.

“No.”

Sasuke held his gaze with equal ferocity, like he would somehow lose if he so much as blinked.

“Get. Off.” He repeated through a clenched jaw. He wriggled the limbs that were held down, causing Naruto to tighten his grip further.

“Tell me who was in your dream.”

“No one.”

“Don’t lie. If it wasn’t Itachi, who was it?”

The idiot was leaning down way too much. For a moment, Sasuke’s gaze faltered and he glanced down the other’s loose yukata - chiseled muscles were tensing along with any tiny movement, when Naruto pressed Sasuke’s wrist harder against the floor, when he slid his leg further up between Sasuke’s spread ones.

“Sasuk _e,_ just tell me,  _please._ ”

The uncharacteristic pleading made Sasuke jerk his eyes back up immediately. He found stormy blue eyes searching his face.

Despite lying half naked on the floor still wearing his soaked pants, Sasuke barely registered the cold. All he noticed was the dangerous position they were in—Naruto’s knee was now touching his inner thigh—and the strange heat that began to spread throughout his torso and up his neck. His ears grew hot at the tips when Naruto breathed his name once more, making him clench his fist at the side of his head.

“What?” Sasuke whispered back, cautious.

Naruto’s stare grew even more serious, somewhat calculating and contemplative. After what seemed like forever, he licked his lips and shifted his gaze lower on Sasuke’s face, suddenly looking like he had something else in mind for the man underneath him.

Sasuke swallowed again nervously when he realised that Naruto was actually leaning in further, their noses almost touching. The tiny space between their faces was stifling with the stillness of their breaths. 

All of a sudden, the world outside lit up with a streak of lightning, before all the room lights went out

But neither of them reacted.

Not to the pitch black darkness, nor to the deafening thunder that followed. In another quick flash of brightness from outside, Sasuke found Naruto’s dilated pupils staring intently at his lips.

Their faces were too close, so close that if Sasuke so much as  _breathed_  their mouths would surely meet. The pounding in his ears and the suffocating tension must have finally loosened a screw his head, because despite being fully aware of their precarious situation, because Sasuke found himself lifting his chin to close the gap.

Just as his lips grazed Naruto’s parted one — soft, warm, wet — he felt his Sharingan activate itself in what must be the most untimely moment. It made the ninja on top of him pull back abruptly as though breaking out of a spell.

Naruto shook his head, blinked twice, thrice, and sucked in a deep breath, all while frowning at the fiery redness of the Uchiha bloodline.

For some odd reason, Sasuke panicked. He felt the need to explain himself, that his eye changed simply out of reflex to the lack of light, not because he felt threatened by what was about to happen. His nails dug painfully into the palm of his fist, already regretting the sudden turn of events. 

“Naruto-“

It was too late. The man above had uncertainty written all over him. He lifted his weight off Sasuke and sat back on his heels.

“Um,” Naruto’s wide eyes darted around the room, anywhere but at Sasuke. “Maybe you should, uh, change. Your, uh, pants are still wet.” He stammered, gripping the hem of his yukata pants. “I- I’ll be right back.”

With that, he got up hastily and fumbled through the dark room, leaving Sasuke behind to push himself off the floor.

“Wait, Naruto, oi-“

By then, Naruto had already left, sliding the door shut with an air of finality.

Sasuke rested his head back down onto the mat, eyes closed while contemplating going after Naruto to ask what the hell just happened, but he wasn’t sure if either of them was ready for the confrontation. Not with the confused look Naruto gave him, and not with Sasuke’s thoughts in this current state of mess. 

Sasuke rubbed his face tiredly and clicked his tongue. A heavy disappointment had settled low beneath his ribs. His entire body was now flushed, burning hot, not even feeling the chilling wind from the opened door a second ago.

Listening to the footsteps echoing down the hallway, Sasuke put his arm over his eyes, lips still tingling. His mind was spinning hazily, unsure if he should be ashamed at losing control and giving in, or relieved at the fact that Naruto himself had actually  _wanted_  to kiss him first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next part is actually unwritten, so comments are very much appreciated.  
> Let's see where this goes, shall we?
> 
> <3


End file.
